Cat sick and now has gone missing - fearing for the worst :(

DC403l · 16-01-2014 09:26PM #1

Hello guys,

We have a cat who is about 8 years old. Apart from a skin condition that comes and goes, the cat (which had it's last check up in August) is perfectly healthy, well until yesterday.

I first noticed something strange when the cat came in Mid-afternoon. He went to bed which is very strange for him. Later on in the evening he woke up and I noticed his eyes were very glazed. Apart from going back to bed he had no interest in anything, even his cat treats (which he absolutely goes mental for!)

He got up and got sick and coughed up this (http://i.imgur.com/fyQ4P6Z.jpg) (warning: don't look if you are having dinner!) which I have no idea what it is. Tapeworm perhaps (he had that before) along with a lot of saliva. He also pooped on the floor a bit of blood.

We were going to bring him to the vet the next morning but he got outside (he is a outdoor cat) and have not seen him since 8 in the morning. We searched far and wide for him calling for him nearly all day. I fear for the worst though as yesterday, he only seemed to be interested in going to bed, not even taking notice at my calls for him.

He hasn't eaten anything since yesterday morning and he was drooling quite severely so I'm quite worried that he might be dehydrated / hungry.

So yeah, do you guys have any advice for me? I am heartbroken right now (I've pretty been crying all day!) Would you have any idea what is the thing he coughed up ?

Thanks for your help in advance. If he comes back, I will be sure to update

EDIT: I forgot to mention that we also found a dead rat at the end of the garden - if that is somewhat relevant ? Maybe he ate it and got sick?

boomerang · 16-01-2014 11:09PM

That's a roundworm.

Hope he comes back, I would be concerned about the dead rat.

anniehoo · 16-01-2014 11:57PM

boomerang wrote: »

That's a roundworm..

Yep, that's a Roundworm. Which one (there's a few) I don't know. The fact he "coughed" it up is important though, but right now and until he comes back I'll hold off for the minute with info.

Keep us updated OP.

DC403l · 17-01-2014 04:18AM

Thanks for your help guys. Luck must have been on our side as about 11 pm, it started to rain and sure enough our cat came in. We rushed him to the vets in ucd and the vet said there that he did look very sick indeed. His heartbeat is normal however he is breathing fast and temp is high. He was administered antibiotics and painkiller. Also recommended meds for the parasite.

He is spending the night with us and then its straight to the local vets.

angeline · 17-01-2014 04:34AM

Glad he came home. Hoping the poor little thing will be as right as rain after treatment. That happened to my gran's cat, turns out she had gotten a cat bite.

DC403l · 17-01-2014 06:55PM

Another update, we brought him to our local vets this morning. His temperature dropped a bit (slightly higher than what it should be) and the vet diagnosed that he had some sort of problems with his bowels (gastro-something? ) The vet said that since his temprature dropped, he won't be hospitalized, however if he doesn't show signs of improvement within 24 hours, we have to bring him back.

He still seems very lifeless, just sleeping the whole entire day. Still no interest in food. Would it be advisable to feed him a bit of food via syringe?

mymo · 17-01-2014 07:12PM

Gastro what? Did the vet say it was ok to feed him?

My cats love a little bit of scrambled egg cooked in butter as a recovery food, has to be warm.
Other good foods are warm roast chicken, or add a little bit of hot water to mushed up cat food, it smells more when warm, smell stimulates appetite.

I would be more concerned about the cats fluid intake, cats get dehydrated fast, but can go without food of a few days.

iora_rua · 18-01-2014 03:24PM

If you can get some liquid down him with a syringe, try 2/3 whiskas or felix cat milk to 1/3 warm water. My cats will always go for that even if they've been off their food - just had their teeth done recently, so great way to slowly get them eating again.

Check with vet if milk is allowed, otherwise make some quick chicken 'soup' by simmering a small piece of skinless chicken or a few chicken bones - no added condiments.

morgana · 18-01-2014 04:07PM

Not saying that your cat has this, but sounds very similar to what our cat came down with over christmas, some elevated temperature which dropped after a while on antibiotics but still remained a bit elevated, and no interest whatsoever in food, even physically turning away from food and generally lethargic although still paying some attention to his surroundings.

Fluid intake is vital, we did syringe feed him with cat milk and some pureed chicken just too keep him alive. After no improvement he was hospitalised for 3 1/2 days on a drip to rehydrate him. He kept refusing food in the hospital until the last morning when he had a nibble. He was sent home and started eating immediately. Cats will always do better at home, so keeping thge hospital stay as short as possible is always best.
The vet is pretty sure (still waiting on the definitive test result) it is pancreatitis (the blood work was odd with sugar high and liver function elevated) and he treated him symptomatically as he didn't show any other signs of diabetes. Pancreatitis can be controlled with diet, he will need to go on a low to no carb food once he is fully back to normal.

I hope your cat improves, and even if not, being put on a drip will help his system to fight whatever it is that is upsetting him. It also gives the vet some time to investigate what is wrong with him.

DC403l · 19-01-2014 01:34AM

Well we brought our cat to the vet this morning again after he showed no sings of improvement.

The vet took his temperature again and it went up

although it's nowhere near as high as what it was. He took a test for feline aids / leukemia since usually cats do respond to anti-antibiotics within a few hours and it came back negative. There was a slight mark under the leukemia however he thinks it's a false positive as he had his vaccine against it. Both yesterday (first time we brought him to our local vet) and the second time (today) he had diarrhea in the pets office

He is being hospitalized now to be put on a drip / being fed some liquid food to see does that improve the situation. We got a call from the vet about 9 hours later just to say that his temperature hasn't improved, plus that they will be keeping him overnight.

morgana · 19-01-2014 11:59AM

My thoughts are with you - I sincerely hope he improves.

Pumpkinseeds · 19-01-2014 12:19PM

I hope he pulls through. I remember my chap having something similar a few years ago. He was kept at the vets for almost a week before he was well enough to come home. A neighbours cat then got something similar too, so it might be a virus that's doing the rounds in your neighbourhood. It's awful when they're sick, but the vets is the best place for him at the moment. Fingers crossed for ye.

DC403l · 19-01-2014 09:24PM

Well he responded really well to being kept overnight, his temperature is back to normal. The vet felt that he is well enough to go home and surely enough, he seems really alive again giving us a great greeting, wanting to go outside, reacting to his surroundings, etc. Blood / mucus has stopped coming out of his diarrhea also. Even when the vet measured his temp with the thermometer, blood has not been coming out on the metal bit. He even seems to be cleaning himself now.

The only thing is that he still isn't eating his food and he just did two big bursts of diarrhea in his litter box

He did however seem really interested in his treat sticks (mostly getting the flavor out) however he did swallow a small segment.

Perhaps It's maybe because I am a pessimistic person but I am begging to think that there is a bigger problem behind this, considering his temperature is gone down and he still has the runs. Although maybe that's why the vet is still telling us to administer the antibiotics?

Thanks for your help and support everyone.

DC403l · 10-03-2014 03:24AM

Well just to update this thread. Our cat is back to his normal self in areas such as bowel movements, eating, behaviour, etc. He's been trembling on and off sometimes when he is lying down, however I remember him doing this as a kitten and the vet doesn't really sound that concerned about it.

Again, thank you all very much

Cat sick and now has gone missing - fearing for the worst :(

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